Big technology companies are playing a major role in shaping the health IT field here in Boston and beyond. That is why we’ve asked healthcare leaders from EMC and Microsoft to present their insights at our “Healthcare In Transition” forum next week at the MIT Media Lab (register here).
EMC, for instance, is exploring different ways to open its “Atmos” cloud computing and storage platform to the healthcare sector, aiming to enable hospitals and doctors to look beyond the walls of their internal data centers to store and manage digital information. Health IT entrepreneurs are already finding ways to make EMC’s cloud platform an integral part of their businesses. One such entrepreneur, Hamid Tabatabaie, will be at the forum to tell the story of his startup, Newton, MA-based LifeImage.
We know that many Xconomy readers—including entrepreneurs, investors, technologists, and others—are at various stages of finding or pursuing opportunities in healthcare (and that may be why seats for the forum are filling up so fast). With this in mind, we’re packing the afternoon with conversations and presentations from more than a dozen health IT leaders from VC firms, big tech companies, startups, and academia. And due to popular demand, there will be three breaks (including the first hour before the program begins and the reception afterward) in the agenda for face-to-face networking among presenters and attendees. Our overall goal is to highlight the ways IT entrepreneurs can build successful ventures while improving healthcare.
Our readers understand that there are lots of reasons to be part of the health IT industry today. For one, U.S. healthcare spending swelled to $2.5 trillion last year, and there are opportunities to use IT inventions to eliminate billions of dollars in costs from this system. We’re not just talking about electronic health records here, and many of the presenters at “Healthcare In Transition” will show us the next generation of Web, wireless, and cloud innovations that could spark a revolution how healthcare is delivered. This is one of those unique opportunities to (really) improve peoples’ lives while building a great business.
There’s never been a period in this country’s history when lawmakers, healthcare providers, and corporations have all been so interested, all at the same time, in what health IT entrepreneurs can bring to the table. Next Monday, we’re bringing together many of these folks together at the MIT Media Lab. So we hope to see you there talking it up with the good people from EMC, Microsoft, Partners HealthCare, and other important outfits with big plans in healthcare!
